Iran’s FM Zarif in response to Donald Trump’s winning the US presidential election early this morning said the new president has a duty to stay committed to US obligations under the nuclear deal.

“We do not interfere in the internal affairs of other countries,” Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif who is on a tour to three Eastern European countries, told reporters on Wednesday in Romanian capital Bucharest, in regard to Donald Trump’s success at winning the US presidential election this morning.

“This is the choice of the American people,” he continued, “but whoever sits at the White House must face the developments in the world and region with a realisitc approach.”

He went on to stress that Iran and the US have no political relations; “however, the US president is obliged to implement whatever his country has agreed to as an international, multilateral commitment under the nuclear deal.”

Republican candidate Donald Trump was declared the victor in the US presidential election on Wednesday by having won 276 electoral votes. His democrat rival Hilary Clinton only managed to win 218 electoral votes, despite many western media predictions.

Foreign Minister Zarif heading a politico-economic delegation will depart Romania for Czech Republic and Slovakia as the last two legs of his Eastern European tour.

Iranian Official Highlights Trump’s Differing Views in Campaign, Victory Speech
A senior official at Iran’s presidential office turned the spotlight on different attitudes that US President-elect Donald Trump had expressed in his electoral campaign and reflected today in his victory speech.

“The image that Trump displayed of himself in his victory speech as the president-elect (on Wednesday) was different from his image in the election campaign. This is a considerable point,” Political Deputy of Iran’s Presidential Office Hamid Abutalebi wrote in a post on his Twitter account on Wednesday.

His comment came after Republican Donald Trump stunned the world by defeating Hillary Clinton in the race for the White House, ending eight years of Democratic rule.

In his victory speech in New York City on Wednesday, Trump said, “I want to tell the world community that while we will always put America’s interests first, we will deal fairly with everyone. We will seek common ground, not hostility. Partnership not conflict.” /Tasnim

Iran Ready for All Developments With US, to Proceed with Nuclear Deal
In a first reaction from Iran to results of the US presidential election, Spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Behrouz Kamalvandi said the country is ready for any development, but will press on with implementing the JCPOA.

Iran is braced for any development, Kamalvandi told the Tasnim News Agency on Wednesday morning, shortly after Republican candidate Donald Trump emerged victorious in the US presidential elections.

Iran will try to keep implementing the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), a nuclear agreement between Tehran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany), he underlined.

Iran has long-term plans, he underlined.

Republican Donald Trump stunned the world by defeating Hillary Clinton in the race for the White House, ending eight years of Democratic rule.//Tasnim

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Managing Director of Iran’s Ports and Maritime Organization Mohammad Saeednejad said foreign firms are expected to make nearly $1 billion of investment in the country’s port and shipping industry.

Since the removal of Iran sanctions, various foreign delegations have travelled to Iran and expressed willingness to invest in the country’s port and maritime projects, Saeednejad said, according to Tasnim News Agency.

Nine major foreign investors have so far submitted their bids to develop Shahid Rajaee port in Iran’s southern city of Bandar Abbas, he said, adding that the proposals are under study.

“New contracts worth nearly $1 billion to develop the country’s ports will be signed this year,” the Iranian official said.

Saeednejad added that 17 major international shipping lines have chosen the country’s ports as their port of call.

In recent months, Iran’s southern Shahid Rajaei port and other major ports have turned into a major hub for shipping and transship activities due to suitable facilities considered by Iran’s Ports and Maritime Organization for international vessels following the removal of the sanctions.

The lifting of the sanctions came after Iran and the P5+1 group – Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany – reached an agreement on July 14 2015 on a lasting nuclear agreement and implemented it in January.

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Deputy Head of the Commercial Development Section of the Italian Embassy in Tehran, Tony Giardini, said that Italians are ready to invest in Iran’s petrochemical industry.

He said since the implementation of the Iran nuclear deal in January, tens of Italian economic activists have visited Iran to explore investment opportunities in the country, IRNA reported.

The Italian official said that given Iran’s attractive oil and gas industries, stronger cooperation is expected to come about between major Iranian and Italian companies.

“The Iranian petrochemical industry, as a vanguard in economic growth, is in dire need of investment and development,” Giardini said.

Corradini said that Italian companies are also willing to invest in Iranian small- and medium-sized downstream oil and gas industries.

He added that Italy enjoys technology in the small- and medium-sized industries and Italian companies want to enter talks with Iranians for sale of equipment and investment in the industry.

After Germany, Italy is Iran’s second major trade partner, and it seems that cooperation between the two countries in the petrochemical field is not an unattainable goal, said the Italian diplomat.

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An NPC official said Iran’s petrochemical exports to Europe experienced a twofold increase in the first seven months of the current Iranian year as compared with the same period last year.

Director of Production Control in Iran’s National Petrochemical Company (NPC) Alimohammad Bosaghzadeh expressed satisfaction towards production volume of Iranian petrochemicals in the first seven months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20-October 21); “the figure rose up by six per cent as compared with the corresponding period a year ago.”

The official touched upon oil price fluctuations and their effects on competitive conditions of the market in the Persian Gulf explaining “current situations harm all parties, NPC, however, seeks to control prices in the Middle and Far East.”

He further noted that large portion of Iran’s petrochemical exports are made to Far East and countries such as India, China and South Korea.

Bosaghzadeh also stressed that Africa offers good conditions for imports of Iranian petrochemical products and efforts are being made to boost export figures to the African region.

Bosaghzadeh said that good talks were made about petrochemical exports to Europe in Germany’s Düsseldorf during K Trade Fair from 19 to 26 October.

Iran’s petrochemical exports are being deployed to the western and eastern Europe

“Currently, Iran’s petrochemical exports are being deployed to the western and eastern European states like Germany, Britain and Hungary,” he underscored.

The official said that Iran’s petrochemical output hit 28.7 million tons during the first four months of the current Iranian year adding “over 21 petrochemical complexes have had surplus output in the time frame spanning from March 20 to October 21.”

“Conditions of Iran’s petrochemical industry became more favorable as a result of several measures take in the first half of the current Iranian year including overhaul in both upstream and downstream, feedstock supply as well as diverse production,” the NPC official continued.

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Iran says it has exported above $300 million worth of medicinal herbs since January.

Peyman Yousefi Azar, the director of Medicinal Herbs Department of Iran’s Ministry of Agriculture Jihad, told the domestic media that saffron comprised almost two thirds of the exports.

The Damask rose comprised a third of the exports, Yousefi Azar said adding that other herbs comprised the rest of the exports.

He emphasized that there is already a market worth around $150 billion for medicinal herbs in Europe, IRNA reported. The official added that different kinds of herbal tea comprise half of the market of medicinal herbs.

Yousefi Azar further emphasized that Iran still needs to devise serious plans to promote its herbs industry in what could eventually become an important non-oil source of revenues.

The key consumer markets of Iran’s medicinal herbs in order of import volumes are Pakistan, the UAE, Germany, Japan and China.

Iran is generally considered as one of the most geographically diverse countries and has 12 separate geographic environments that can host above 7,500 species of plants of which 1,800 are used in medicine.

Saffron is the crown jewel of Iran’s botanical products. The country produces around 210 tons of saffron each year of which some 70 percent is exported.

Iranian officials had earlier said the country’s exports of botanical products had declined over the past few years as a result of sanctions and stood at around $100 million per year. The surge of exports to around $300 million as Yousefi Azar acknowledged may be a direct result of the removal of the sanctions in January.

More about Iran Saffron

The Guardian: Iran anticipates saffron sales will soar after lifting of sanctions

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eputy minister of industry, mine and trade announced that 60 deals have been signed between Iran and the foreign countries after the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in July, 2015.
Half of those 60 deals on the fields of industry, mine and trade have been finalized, Ali Yazdani told IRNA Tuesday after a local meeting here in this northeastern Iranian province.

Iran and the six world powers: US, UK, France, Russia, China and Germany, reached a landmark nuclear agreement known as the JCPOA on July 15, 2015.

‘Implementation Day’ of the deal was announced in January, 2016, as the anti-Iran sanctions were lifted after Iran’s peaceful nuclear program was verified by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

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Germany’s flagship carrier Lufthansa announced that the number of its weekly flights to Iran has almost quadrupled.

Lufthansa’s flights to Iran have increased from seven to 27 every week in the post-sanctions era

“Lufthansa’s flights to Iran have increased from seven to 27 every week in the post-sanctions era,” Executive Vice President of Sales for the Lufthansa Group Jens Bischof told reporters in a ceremony in Tehran on the 60th anniversary German airline’s activity in Iran.

The official said Lufthansa has continued its activities in Iran despite problems such as anti-Iran sanctions, adding the company seeks to boost ties with its Iranian counterparts.

The office of the largest German airline in Iran said growing demand, particularly in tourism sector, and the lifting of sanctions have contributed to a surge in Lufthansa flights to the Islamic Republic.

In March 2016, media reported that Lufthansa signed a deal with Iran Air. Based on the deal, the two aviation companies agreed to work closely in fields such as technical issues, commercial activities, IT systems and navigation mechanisms.

The technical issues included maintenance and repairing and the commercial activities pertained to the transfer of passengers and cargos.

Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council — the United States, France, Britain, China and Russia — plus Germany signed a nuclear deal on July 14, 2015 following two and a half years of intensive talks. The agreement is known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

The two sides started implementing the deal in January 2016.

Under the JCPOA, all nuclear-related sanctions imposed on Iran by the European Union, the Security Council and the US must be lifted. Iran has, in return, put some limitations on its nuclear activities.

The nuclear agreement has encouraged major global aviation companies to either resume or boost ties with Iran.

Iran has put orders with Airbus and Boeing for scores of passenger aircraft worth billions of dollars. Tehran is also in talks with other global aviation companies to buy aircraft.

Iran has a potential order list for 500 commercial planes to renovate its aging fleet. Officials say the country’s current civil aviation fleet consists of 248 aircraft with an average age of 20 years, of which 100 are in storage.

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The International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC), which carried out the first test shipment this month between India and Russia, has received a shot in the arm with Germany’s decision to trade with Iran via this connectivity project.

Deutsche Bahn has expressed interest in using INSTC and delivering goods from Europe to Iran

Deutsche Bahn, a leading German railway company, has expressed interest in using INSTC and delivering goods from Europe to Iran via Azerbaijan and vice versa, according to people familiar with the development, Economic Times‎ reported on Friday.

This will boost India’s plans to use INSTC to reach not just Russia but also beyond Europe in shorter time than required at present.

INSTC is a land and sea-based 7,200km-long network comprising rail, road and water routes that is aimed at reducing costs and travel time for freight transport in a bid to boost trade between Russia, Iran, Central Asia, India and Europe.

The network is expected to provide faster and more efficient trade connectivity between Europe and Southeast Asia, Deutsche Bahn said.

A study, conducted by the Federation of Freight Forwarders’ Associations in India, showed that INSTC will be 30 percent cheaper and 40 percent shorter than the existing routes.

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Iran has signed initial agreements with Germany’s Hermes insurance firm and Swiss Export Risk Insurance (SERV) to provide cover for transactions with Europe.

The Export Guarantee Fund of Iran (EGFI) signed the agreements in Lisbon on the sidelines of the annual meeting of Bern Union — an association of private and state export credit insurers from around the world, IRNA reported Wednesday.

Under the agreement, the Iranian and European sides will cooperate on “exchange of economic, trade and banking information, reinsurance coverage, coinsurance, and training”.

IRNA quoted EGFI Managing Director Kamal Seyyed-Ali as saying that European export credit insurers were increasingly interested in financing projects after the lifting of sanctions on Iran.

“Given our good track record in repayment of finance installments and Iran’s foreign exchange reserves and the nonexistence of outstanding debts, these institutions are interested in the Iranian financing market despite the problems created by the US Treasury,” he said.

Banks and financial institutions are holding back on moving into Iran because they are fearful of falling foul of American sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

Iran paid off its debt of about €500 million to Hermes

Iran paid off its debt of about €500 million to Hermes, Iranian Ambassador in Berlin Ali Majedi said in June, clearing the way for the resumption of insurance services.

Hermes, which extends insurance coverage to Iranian exports, has been encouraging German banks to normalize ties with Iran.

Last month, the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran (CBI) said Austrian export credit agency OeKB had raised its cover for Iran transactions to one billion euros.

Raiffeisen Bank and Erste Bank from Austria along with banks from Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Turkey and Belgium have set up shop in Iran, handling transactions with the energy-rich country while major banks have stayed away.

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Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammad Javad Zarif and US Secretary of State John Kerry have been voted as the winners of this year’s Chatham House Prize.

The Chatham House Prize is presented annually to the person, persons or organization deemed by members of the Royal Institute of International Affairs to have made the most significant contribution to the improvement of international relations in the previous year.

This year, members voted for John Kerry and Mohammad Javad Zarif in recognition of their crucial roles, throughout 2015, in successfully negotiating the historic nuclear deal between Iran and the P5+1 – considered to be one of the most intractable diplomatic stand-offs in international affairs in the 21st century.

The deal was one that many thought impossible. Overcoming enormous technical complexity, entrenched domestic opposition in the United States and Iran and three decades of intense hostility between their two countries, Kerry and Zarif’s leadership and commitment, in particular, were imperative to sustaining and driving the negotiations to their successful conclusion. With the vital participation of officials from other permanent members of the UN Security Council, Germany and the EU, they secured a deal, endorsed by the UN Security Council and more than 90 countries, which was a victory for diplomacy as well as against nuclear proliferation.

About the Chatham House Prize

The Chatham House Prize is presented to the person, persons or organization deemed by members of Chatham House to have made the most significant contribution to the improvement of international relations in the previous year.

The selection process is independent, democratic and draws on the deep knowledge of Chatham House’s research teams, making the Prize a distinctive and unique award in the field of international affairs.

A short-list of nominees is selected by the institute’s three presidents from a longer list submitted by the research programmes and departments in their areas of expertise. The recipient is then determined by Chatham House’s broad membership base on a one-member, one-vote basis. The award is presented on behalf of the institute’s patron, Her Majesty the Queen, representing the non-partisan and authoritative character of the Prize.

The Chatham House Prize was launched in 2005. Previous recipients of the Prize include Burmese democracy campaigner Aung San Suu Kyi, Médecins Sans Frontières, former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and Melinda Gates, co-founder of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

 Source: chathamhouse.org

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